Collapsible dolly for use with a truss

ABSTRACT

A foldable dolly for use with a truss. The dolly is also extendable.

This application claims priority from provisional application61/145,673, filed Jan. 19, 2009, the entire contents of which areherewith incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Lighting and other gear for an event, e.g., a concert, play or othergathering may be held on trusses. For example, a truss may include aseries of poles which extend substantially parallel to one another and,are connected together to form a square or rectangle in cross section.Cross pieces on the truss that hold the pieces relative to one anotherand provide structural support.

The trusses need to have significant amounts of strength, and hence theyuse materials that can be heavy. Also the trusses are usually raised toa spot above the stage. Often the stage is assembled by wheeling out thetrusses on dollies. The lights are hung on the trusses on the groundwhile they are still on the dollies. The trusses are subsequently raisedso that they are hanging from the roof with the lights still on them.The dollies are then removed from that area and stored until the trussesare lowered.

Dollies for trusses include the “Obie Low Pro” and the “Mega Trussdolly”.

SUMMARY

The present application describes a number of features for a new trussdolly.

The inventor recognizes that the dollys take up significant space whenthey are not being used, and when they are being transported. Accordingto a first aspect, the dollies for the trusses can be folded into astowed position in which they use less space.

The dollies can be more easily stored at an area outside of the activeevent area and to be transported.

According to another aspect, the dollies are “telescopic” so that theycan be adjusted to set which or how far off the ground they hold thetrusses. This allows larger light to be placed on the dollies.

Another aspect describes how the telescopic feature can allow use onetruss for multiple different kinds of lights.

Yet another feature describes how the dolly and truss have specifiedstructures that holds them together and allows them to move one relativeto another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the Drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a stack of folded dollys according to embodiments;

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the trusses and dollys from opposite sides;

FIG. 4 shows a close up of the movable part;

FIG. 5 shows a side view of the movable part;

FIG. 6 shows a pair of trusses which are connected together, and areraised into a vertical position using a serpentine techniques;

FIG. 7 shows further progress of the serpentine technique;

FIG. 8 shows the truss in the wholly vertical position off of the dolly;

FIG. 9 shows a dual stacked dolly-and-truss configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An embodiment is shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, where FIG. 1 shows a stackof folded dollys, and FIGS. 2 and 3 show the dollys from opposite sides.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate the embodiment where truss 200 is mounted ontop of the dolly 100. The dollys 100 in FIGS. 2 and 3 are shown in theextended and assembled position. The truss 200 includes a first male end205, and a second female end 210 (shown in FIG. 3). The female end 210of one truss attaches into the male end 205 of another truss. Accordingto one embodiment, the connection between the male end and the femaleand uses a universal connector of the type described in U.S. Pat. No.6,675,546, and available for sale from “Total Structures, Inc”, Ventura,Ca.

The dollys have a dolly frame with wheels on its bottom surface. Theframe also has a truss holding channel 130 that is movable by action ofa pivotable channel holding arm 105.

Each of the dollies includes support pieces of various types. The trussin FIG. 2 includes unistruts 210 (e.g., a P3000 available fromunistrut.com) and diagonal supports 215. The supports hold rigid theframe portions, formed of four tubular and/or rectangular frame portions220. FIG. 6 illustrates how the unistruts 210 have connection parts thatallow connecting a light supporting pole such as 600 between and alongmultiple unistruts such as between unit strut 210 and unistrut 610. Thepoles 600 are pre-drilled with holes which allow those poles to beconnected at any location within the unistruts. Lighting devices such as620 can be held on clamps 625, 626 that may attach at any location alongthe pole 600.

The lights are typically hung to extend within the area 225 definedbetween the structural portions 220, 221, 222, 223 while each of thetrusses is held on a dolly 100. The lights as so hung extend inside thearea defined between the supports.

The dolly includes a channel holding arm 105 that holds the channel 130,and swivels between the upright and structural portion shown in FIGS.2-4, and a stowed or folded down position shown in FIG. 1 and describedfurther herein. The dolly pivots on a pivot portion 110 which allowspivoting to the upright position and to the lowered position. While inthe upright position, the bottom support part 230 of the truss is heldwithin a corresponding channel 130 on the dolly and attached via astraight line action clamp 176, which holds the arm 160 are area 175.

The channel 130 can also be telescoped to a taller position, to allowlarger lights to hang lower into the interior of the truss and dollywithout hitting the floor. This allows for larger lights to be hung inthis way. FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate how the channel 130 is held on asupport pole 135, which extends into a corresponding holding channel110. The holding channel includes inner surfaces 141 which are sized tohouse the outer surface 135 of the telescoping pole. In addition, a bolt146 can be removed to allow the channel 135 of the dolly portion toextend further upward and thereby telescope, after which the bolt 146can be reinstalled. When the channel telescopes upward, the truss 200 isheld up higher above the bottom surface of the dolly, thereby providingfurther room for lights.

Each of the dollies also includes a number of stacking peg portions. Astacking peg portion 140 fits within a corresponding receiving portion145 within another dolly. For example, stacking peg portion 140 within acorresponding receiving portion on another dolly. When the dolly 100 isstacked with another dolly, the peg portions of the adjacent dollies areheld one within the other.

The dollies can also be retracted to the retracted position shown inFIG. 1. In FIG. 1, each dolly such as 100, 102, is in the stowedposition. In this stowed position, the arms 105 has been pivoted to acompletely flat position. The flattened arms allow the dollies to belaid flat and stacked as shown in FIG. 1. Even though a high stack ofdollies is possible such as the dolly stack shown in FIG. 1, thesedollies are connected one to the other, such that receiving portion 145on one of the dollies connect into the peg portions 140 on the other ofthe dollies. This provides vertical support to the dolly stack, therebyallowing them to be stacked very high without significant danger offalling over. The top surface of the truss may also have a male pegshown as 155.

In operation, the dolly portions can be pivoted on the first pivot 110,to place the upright support portion 140 in a substantially verticalposition. The second pivot 111 is moved to place the other supportportion 160 into for example a 45° angle. The second pivot pivots in adirection opposite to the pivoting direction of the first pivot. Thesupport connection 175 is tightened to hold it in place.

FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of a hinged part, showing the hinges 110,111, and showing the telescoping portion 130. The pole 135 can extentand retract as shown by the arrow 500. A bolt 146 holds the device inplace. This can alternatively be a pin or quick release connection.

In the embodiment, the main supports of the dolly may be 2×3 rectangularaluminum tubes, and the edge support 160 may be a 2×2 square with0.5″×2″ tab on the bottom edge. The top portion may be a 2½ by ¼ inchchannel.

In operation, the dolly can be extended between its contracted positionshown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and its folded position shown in FIG. 1. Whencontracted as shown in FIG. 1, a number of the dollies can be stacked.When expanded as in its position in FIGS. 4 and 5, and in FIGS. 2 and 3,the dolly can hold an element of truss thereon, and it can expand andcontract while holding the truss. Moreover, the structural elementswhich are added to this device can reduce the danger of high stacks ofitems.

Another feature of the truss of the present system is to controlvertical hanging of the trusses by serpentine lifting of the truss offthe dolly.

In this embodiment, multiple different trusses can be held together byattaching the male end 205 of one of the trusses to the female end 210of another truss. These can be held by removable pins. In order to hangthe trusses vertically, the bottom pin, from area, 640 is removed. Thetop pin 642 remains, and the truss can pivot on that top pin 642. Amotor is then attached to one end of the truss, and the motor is movedto cause the truss to move upward in the direction of the arrow 645. Asthe truss moves upward, it pivots on the pin 642. FIG. 7 shows how oncethe first truss rises sufficiently, the second connected truss 700 alsobegins lifting off the ground. The bottom support part 710 of the trusspivots within the channel 130 of the Dolly, and the top part pivots onthe pin 642. As the motor continues to run to lift the truss upward,eventually both trusses are raised into the vertical position. Themovement of the first truss 599 upwards may be facilitated by the truss700 and moving on its associated dolly 701.

FIG. 8 illustrates the truss 700, now off the Dolly and in its fullupright position. The truss pieces 599 and 700 can then be attached byreattaching the pin back into 640. This motion of lifting the trussesinto a vertical direction in this way is referred to as a serpentinemotion, with there being at least two pivot points for the two trusses—afirst pivot point between the two trusses and a second pivot pointbetween the truss 700 and the dolly.

FIG. 9 illustrates another stacking configuration in which a first Dollyand truss stack 900 is stacked with a second dolly and truss stack 920.the Dolly 902 of the first stack has a truss 904 stacked thereon. Thetruss 904 has attached lights such as 906 which extend into the Dollyspace. Note that Dolly 902 is telescoped by an amount 980. The Dolly canbe telescoped by any desired amount to facilitate the moving lights onthe truss while still on the Dolly.

However, more stacking of the Dolly means that the dollies becomehigher. The moderately telescoped configuration shown in FIG. 9 mightstill be low enough to fit on a truck with two Dolly stack. However, asthe trusses telescope more, it may form the dolly stack too high to fiton a truck, and prevent this being from being stacked in the truck.

The top truss 924 is connected to a bottom Dolly 922 of the second trussDolly combination. The Dolly 922 holds the truss 924. Again, the truss924 is already has the lights loaded thereon and wired. The dollys canbe stacked as shown in FIG. 9 using a forklift, and then rolled on totrucks in their stacked positions, thereby using the truck space moreeffectively.

Although only a few embodiments have been disclosed in detail above,other embodiments are possible and the inventors intend these to beencompassed within this specification. The specification describesspecific examples to accomplish a more general goal that may beaccomplished in another way. This disclosure is intended to beexemplary, and the claims are intended to cover any modification oralternative which might be predictable to a person having ordinary skillin the art. For example, other materials and sizes can be used. Any kindof hangable light, or any equipment that can be truss mounted can bemounted in this way.

Also, the inventors intend that only those claims which use the words“means for” are intended to be interpreted under 35 USC 112, sixthparagraph. Moreover, no limitations from the specification are intendedto be read into any claims, unless those limitations are expresslyincluded in the claims.

1. A dolly system for a truss, comprising: a dolly frame, having asupport surface with plural wheels on a bottom surface of the supportsurface, and a movable truss holding arm, where said truss holding armhas a channel structure shaped to hold a truss; said truss holding armpivots on a first pivot to a truss holding position where said trussholding arm faces substantially vertically and said channel facessubstantially horizontally to allow holding a truss in said channel,said channel held a first distance above the surface of the frame whenin said truss holding position, and said channel portion also pivots onsaid first pivot to a stowed position where said channel is not in aposition to hold said truss thereon, and said channel is a seconddistance from the surface of the frame, shorter than said firstdistance.
 2. A dolly as in claim 1, wherein said channel structure ismovable relative to the truss holding arm, movement of said channelstructure changes a distance of said channel structure relative to saidsupport structure of the frame.
 3. A dolly as in claim 1, wherein saidtruss holding arm pivots between said truss holding position and saidstowed position.
 4. A dolly as in claim 3, wherein said truss holdingarm in said truss holding position is held by a support piece that ispivotally attached to said dolly frame by a second pivot, said supportpiece extending at a non 90 degree angle between an area near a topportion of said truss holding structure and said dolly frame and heldrelative to said dolly frame.
 5. A dolly as in claim 1, wherein saiddolly frame includes stacking structures which define a position ofstacking to other dollies.
 6. A dolly as in claim 5, wherein saidstacking structures include first male portions that extend in onedirection of the bottom surface of said dolly, and second femaleportions extending in another direction on the bottom surface of saiddolly and receiving said male portions therein.
 7. A dolly as in claim1, wherein said dolly frame includes mating structures which matebetween said channel of said dolly and a truss which is held thereon. 8.A dolly as in claim 7, wherein said mating structures include first maleportions that extend in one direction relative to the surface of saidchannel, and second female portion which extend in a second directionrelative to the surface of the channel, and which mate with secondfemale portions.
 9. A dolly as in claim 4, wherein said first and secondpivot parts pivot in opposite directions.
 10. A dolly as in claim 1,further comprising a truss having support pieces with outer surfacesthat are sized to fit into said channel portions on said dolly.
 11. Adolly as in claim 10, wherein said channel pieces are rectangular incross section.
 12. A dolly as in claim 1, wherein said truss has maleportions at one end and female portions at another end that materotatable with male portions on another end of another truss.
 13. Adolly system for a truss, comprising: a dolly frame, having a supportsurface with plural wheels on a bottom surface of the support surface,and a truss holding arm, where said truss holding arm has a channelstructure shaped to hold a truss; said channel structure is extendablerelative to the truss holding arm, and where extending of said channelstructure changes a distance of said channel structure relative to thesupport surface of the frame, said channel held a first distance abovethe surface of the frame when in said truss holding position in a nonextended position, and held a second distance above the surface of theframe, higher above the surface of the frame, when in a second extendedposition.
 14. A dolly as in claim 13, wherein said truss holding arm ispivotable between a stowed position and an upright position and saidtruss holding portion pivots on a first pivot to a truss holdingposition where said truss holding arm faces substantially vertically andsaid channel faces substantially horizontally to allow holding a trussin said channel, and said channel portion also pivots on said firstpivot to a stowed position where said channel is not in a position tohold said truss thereon, and said channel is a second distance from thesurface of the frame, shorter than said first distance.
 15. A dolly asin claim 13, wherein said truss holding arm pivots between said trussholding position and said stowed position.
 16. A dolly as in claim 15,wherein said truss holding arm in said truss holding position is on afirst pivot, and is held by a support piece that is pivotally attachedto said dolly frame by a second pivot, said support piece extending at anon 90 degree angle between an area near a top portion of said trussholding structure and said dolly frame and held relative to said dollyframe.
 17. A dolly as in claim 12, wherein said dolly frame includesstacking structures which define a position of stacking to otherdollies.
 18. A dolly as in claim 17, wherein said stacking structuresinclude first male portions that extend in one direction of the bottomsurface of said dolly, and second female portions extending in anotherdirection on the bottom surface of said dolly and sized to receive saidmale portions from another dolly therein.
 19. A dolly as in claim 12,wherein said dolly frame includes mating structures which mate betweensaid channel of said dolly and a truss which is held thereon.
 20. Adolly as in claim 19, wherein said mating structures include first maleportions that extend in one direction relative to the surface of saidchannel, and second female portion which extend in a second directionrelative to the surface of the channel, and which mate with secondfemale portions.
 21. A dolly as in claim 16, wherein said first andsecond pivot parts pivot in opposite directions.
 22. A dolly as in claim12, further comprising a truss having support pieces with outer surfacesthat are sized to fit into said channel portions on said dolly.
 23. Adolly as in claim 12, wherein said truss has male portions at one endand female portions at another end that mate rotatable with maleportions on another end of another truss.
 24. A dolly system for atruss, comprising: a dolly frame, having a support surface with pluralwheels on a bottom surface of the support surface, and a movable trussholding arm, where said truss holding arm has a channel structure havingan inner surface shaped to hold a truss; said channel structure heldabove the surface of the frame when in a truss holding position, whereinsaid dolly frame includes stacking structures which define a position ofstacking to other dollies, wherein said stacking structures includefirst male portions that extend in one direction of the bottom surfaceof said dolly, and second female portions extending in another directionon the bottom surface of said dolly and sized to receive said maleportions from another dolly therein.
 25. A system as in claim 24,wherein said movable truss holding arm is pivotable between a verticalposition and a stowed horizontal position.
 26. A system as in claim 24,wherein said movable truss holding arm is extendable to extend above asurface of the dolly.
 27. A method comprising: using a dolly to move atruss of a type that hangs a light; placing the light on the truss andplacing the truss on the dolly with the light thereon; and folding thedolly after use.
 28. A method as in claim 27, further comprising movingthe truss in a way to make it rotate relative to the dolly.
 29. A methodcomprising: using a dolly to hold move a truss of a type that hassurfaces that allow hanging a light; attaching a light to the truss onthe dolly; and moving the truss in a way to make it rotate relative tothe dolly.
 30. A method as in claim 29, further comprising moving thetruss to hang the truss vertically.
 31. A method comprising: using adolly to hold move a truss of a type that has surfaces that allowhanging a light; attaching plural lights to the truss on the dolly; andstacking multiple dollies with trusses with lights thereon, with onedolly, a truss stacked on the dolly, and another dolly stacked on thetruss, and another truss stacked on the another dolly.
 32. A method asin claim 31, further comprising moving the truss in a way to make itrotate relative to the dolly.
 33. A method as in claim 32, furthercomprising moving the truss to hang the truss vertically.
 34. A dollysystem for a truss, comprising: a dolly frame, having a support surfacewith plural wheels on a bottom surface of the support surface, and amovable truss holding arm, where said truss holding arm has a channelstructure having an inner surface shaped to hold a truss; said channelstructure held above the surface of the frame when in a truss holdingposition, wherein said dolly frame includes stacking structures whichdefine a position of stacking to other dollies, wherein said stackingstructures include first male portions that extend in one direction ofthe bottom surface of said dolly, and second female portions extendingin another direction on the bottom surface of said dolly and sized toreceive said male portions from another dolly therein.
 35. A system asin claim 34, wherein said movable truss holding arm is movable between avertical position and a stowed horizontal position.
 36. A system as inclaim 34, wherein said movable truss holding arm is movable to extendabove a surface of the dolly.